Petaluma, Calif. - Wednesday CATO Institute Director of Media Relations Chris Kennedy sent an email to Lloyd Chapman indicating their intentions to maintain their attack on the small business advocate and “light” him up. Chapman and the American Small Business League (ASBL) work to prevent large Fortune 500 firms from hijacking small business contracts.

As a small business advocate Chapman has taken major steps to help small businesses. He prompted the first General Accounting Office (GAO) investigation into the diversion of federal small business contracts to large corporations and testified at the first congressional hearing to address this abuse. He forced the Small Business Administration (SBA) to release a report that proved large firms fraudulently received small business contracts through what was described as “vendor deception.” He also forced the SBA to release information that proved the agency played a pivotal role in allowing the diversion of billions in small business contracts to Fortune 500 firms.

Chapman drafted the only legislation aimed at ending the diversion of federal small business contracts to corporate giants. The bill, titled the Fairness and Transparency in Contracting Act, had dozens of cosponsors. If passed the bill would have redirected billions in existing federal infrastructure spending to the middle class and created millions of jobs.

Chapman has routinely been invited to appear on major television news networks to provide expert opinion on federal policies that impact American small businesses. He has prompted hundreds of stories in the mainstream media on fraud and abuse in federal small business contracting programs, including stories by CNN, Fox, ABC, the New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times and Wall Street Journal.

Entrepreneur Magazine said Chapman might be a modern day Cesar Chavez for small business. In media appearances Chapman has been referred to as the “voice of small business” in America. Former head of the GSA Lurita Doan called Chapman the “real deal,” and likened his mission to end the diversion of federal small business contracts to corporate giants as the battle between David and Goliath.

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